The Guardian has become the world's third most read newspaper website, with 30.4 million readers in June 2012, according to industry analyst ComScore.

The Guardian's online readership has grown rapidly since it adopted a 'digital-first' strategy in June 2011, ensuring that readers around the world get news online as soon as it happens. It was further boosted by opening a digital-only US newsroom in September 2011.

Janine Gibson, editor-in-chief of Guardian US (www.guardiannews.com), said: "Putting our online news service first has enabled us to build a huge global audience that shares our progressive values. Many things have changed since the Guardian published its first newspaper in England on 5 May 1821 but our commitment to rigorous, courageous, journalism isn't one of them and our audience has grown because of that commitment to our core values. The US now accounts for around one-third of our total global readership."

In the UK, the Guardian publishes a daily newspaper from Monday to Saturday and a Sunday sister paper, The Observer, as well as its website. There, it reaches more readers than any other newspaper publisher. According to analyst Kantar Media, the Guardian has an unduplicated British readership across print and digital platforms of 5.8 million people per week - over 300,000 more than its nearest British competitor, The Times and Sunday Times.

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Notes to editors:The Guardian, The Observer and the websites www.guardiannews.com and www.theguardian.com are published by Guardian News & Media (GNM). GNM is an independent publisher that is owned by Guardian Media Group (GMG). GMG has only one shareholder: The Scott Trust Ltd, which was established in 1936 to ensure that the Guardian's journalism remains free from proprietorial or commercial influence.

Guardian US, the digital operation in New York, was created with the aim of combining the Guardian's internationalist, online journalism with US voices and expertise. Guardian US creates a hub for Guardian readers in the US, merging the innovation and energy of a start-up with ground-breaking journalism and the backing of the Guardian brand.